Celis Brewery Set to Reopen In Austin, TX

We won't have that problem in Texas. I've never seen Celis White available for sale in Austin or DFW.

I'm sure if I was able to drink in the 90's it would have been a different story. But I'm only 30.

 

I really think people are overestimating how much this will be distributed. They are brewing on a 30bbl system. I would be surprised if it make it beyond the TX market for a long time.

Hell, I'd be surprised if it leaves the Austin area for the first 6 months.

Allagash does not distribute to TX either, so that competition won't be there. In Austin, I think their biggest competition will be Live Oak's Hefe. It's already an Austin staple. I do think they'd go to San Antonio to begin with with expansion, solely due to it being a less saturated and less of a real "beer market"...that those beers may resonate better in.

Other competition in town would be with 512's Wit, Friends and Allies will be releasing a year round White in the next month, and I believe Independence also has their White Rabbit.

 

The Brewbound article already mentioned their near term distribution plans:

“Celis said the brewery will begin with a focus on three key initial markets in Texas — Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.”

Cheers!

 

Ah right. I missed that aspect, just was my impression of the direction they were going.

Also, there has been mentions of them making 3 IPAs to begin with - it apparently was a misprint and only gong to be two - basically there is only one NE IPA to begin with.

 

I'm with your sentiment entirely. Celis will probably make very good beer and be a success with their "originals", and whatever else they come up with. New England IPAs can be damned good for sure, but they haven't changed my beer world an ounce. It will be with more than a nostalgic nod that I will be eager to try the renewed Celis White! A fine wit beer could easily be the signature Texas contribution to our seeming need for regional standards.

 

How big was Pierre's Austin Brewery? Asking as I don't know. They managed to distribute at least as far as Michigan

 

In '95, right after Miller bought into the brewery, Celis brewed just under 20k bbl - up from 6k in their first year of 1992. That made them the #29 "Craft Brewery" in the US at the time (the IBS didn't have the "less than 25%" macro ownership rule its successor, the Brewers Association, would later adopt).

'98/99 Brewery Age Blue Book put their capacity at 40,000 bbl. with the then-current production at 25k bbl. (Interesting thing - even as a partial subsidiary of Miller, "Christine Celis" is listed as President of the brewery).

Yeah, it reached New Jersey, too.

 

I think you already got our answer from the post above. But, even at 20k bbls, it was a different time then....not nearly the demand for "craft" beer back then so they could send it much wider.

But, I found it interesting that it was around only 20k bbls. I had heard it was around 17k in their last year from someone that was looking into an article about it. So, it is the same area as it.

 

When did Allagash stop distributing to Texas? I remember seeing them all over the place... But that was back around 2010 I guess.

 

Modern Brewery Age's annual lists had Celis' barrelage at:

1998 - 19,354 bbl. (IBS put it at 21k)
1999 - 15,070 bbl.​

But didn't list it at all (or, maybe, including it with Miller's total?) for it's last year, 2000.

 

They could definitely do that annual capacity on a 30 BBL system, so it seems to be sized right.